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CC Robinson
a book bubble about
Betrayed
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author Insight
POV: When your friends won't let you hide.
In this scene Harriet is avoiding dealing with her grief by staying busy. It's such a familiar practice - avoiding tough things by staying in motion. What made Betrayed so emotional to write was walking Harriet through this process finally facing her grief, with her friends right beside her. And that took the entire length of the book, believe me! This scene is also just funny to me. Marcos is nervous to admit his feelings for Harriet on any level - even just saying "I missed you" nearly guts him. It's sweet watching him admit to himself that maybe this is more than friendship, while also not wanting her to know it yet.
Book Excerpt
Betrayed
“Harriet!” he called, barreling toward his friend.
“Hey, Marcos and Rose,” Harriet said, pressing her hands onto her knees and standing. “What’s happening?”
Rose pulled Harriet to the side, Marcos following. Rose lowered her voice. “We are going to check on the warehouse across from the CAB to figure out if this attack was Martin or Junior.”
Harriet wrinkled her forehead, as if trying to understand why that detail mattered. And Marcos got it. To Harriet, an attack was an attack. But Marcos believed Rose’s line of reasoning now and needed to know what they were up against.
“Come with us, Harriet,” Marcos said. “I’ve missed you. I heard you ran out of HQ yesterday and I’ve been worried about you.” Had he gone too far by telling her he’d missed her, that he was worried about her? With Harriet, everything was a delicate dance to not make her run in the other direction, as she’d done way too many times. He cringed, waiting for her withdrawal. Instead of running, the sorrow in her expression jumped out at him. He longed to comfort her in the midst of her grief, not understanding how her way of grieving helped her. But he wasn’t about to judge it. Marcos had learned that different didn’t mean wrong.
From his perspective, it looked like her way of processing was really avoidance, which did no one any good. He’d learned that lesson in the labor camp. And that made Marcos want to drag Harriet along with them.
Harriet chewed on her lower lip and scanned the refugees seated against the tunnel’s wall around them. He followed her gaze, not seeing anyone bleeding or clutching their bodies, and tugged on her arm to draw her further south.
“Okay,” Harriet said. “I’ll come with you all. Maybe I’ll find more people needing medic help.”
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